Belarus Tops Tax ‘Hell Index’

But not because of high taxes.

Belarus was called “tax hell” by the compilers of The Hell Index. The authors of the list are the non-profit organization The Hell Foundation. The organization was only created in 2022, and Belarus tops their list of “most hellish” tax systems for two years in a row.

“Our Tax Hell Index was created to evaluate countries that combine high taxes with poor government management. "We believe that 'tax hell' is not only a country with high taxes, but also a country in which there is no rule of law, in which privacy and property rights are not adequately protected," the study description says.

The compilers of the rating explain the leading position of Belarus as follows:

“When analyzing the data, we drew attention to a significant deterioration in indicators of the quality of public administration, and not to increased fiscal pressure. It is clear that Belarus places the privileges and interests of its ruler and his allies above the individual rights of its citizens,” the study authors say.

The study's authors considered tax systems in 82 countries in the Americas and Europe. They were based on data from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.